Quaranteens

confession

The entire picnic I was jumpy and nervous, terrified Grace was just going to blurt "Did you know Nate is gay? Gay and single? Craving your pringle?" But she never did, every time I glanced her way she was smirking and looking like she was just having the best time of her life. The amount of relief I felt when Jeremy's mother came outside looking for him, making him come inside for the night, was the best thing I've ever experienced.

"Why are you so obsessed with me dating Jeremy?" I asked, hanging my legs off Grace's porch.

"You two would be cute together," she stated, picking up a weed and beginning to take it apart piece by piece.

"It's quarantine, we wouldn't even be able to really date at all."

"You've also had a crush on him since, like, the seventh grade." I scoffed, feeling my face immediately heat up.

"The fuck I have! Who told you that?"

"Oh, uh-" She immediately looked like she had revealed a secret about me to me, "just a lucky guess."

"No, don't lie, tell me right now," I stared down at her, determined to get the truth. That had been one of my closest guarded secrets for years at this point, I had decided to die with that secret.

"...do you remember when we got drunk for the first time?"

"Not really," I admitted, "I was blackout drunk too quickly to remember anything substantial."

"You were pretty wasted," she snickered, before clearing her throat and continuing, "well, when it was just you and me hanging out on some couch, you looked over at Jeremy and, uhm-" Her cheeks flushed in a way I had never seen before.

"...what did I say," I asked hesitantly, not sure if I really wanted to know now.

"You uh, you said you wanted him to...rearrange your guts...in the upstairs bathroom..."

"Oh my God!" I groaned, covering my face, in disbelief sixteen year old me had the imagination to even come up with something like that.

"Yeah, I was, like, in shock for the rest of the night."

"That was before I even came out to you," I dragged my hands down my face, speaking in a worried, whiny tone.

"That's also another reason I wasn't as surprised as I should've been," she laughed, looking up at me with a dorky smile.

"Is that what you meant by 'I was suspicious'? Was that supposed to tip me off?"

"Maybe..."

"You are the worst best friend ever."

"How am I supposed to tell a hungover teenage boy that he came out to me on Daniel Breyer's couch?"

"In a calming tone of voice!"